Jeremiah 7

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

2 “Stand at the gate to the house of the Lord, and preach this word there, and say: Listen to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter through these gates to adore the Lord.

Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim these words, and say: —Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, Who enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah!

3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your intentions good, and I will live with you in this place.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, And I will suffer you to dwell in this place!

4 Do not choose to trust in lying words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’

Trust ye not in lying words, when they say, “The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah are these.”

5 For if you direct your ways and your intentions well, if you exercise judgment between a man and his neighbor,

Yet if ye will thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, And dispense justice between man and man,

6 if you do not act with deceit toward the new arrival, the orphan, and the widow, and if you do not pour out innocent blood in this place, and if you do not walk after strange gods, which is to your own harm,

If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, And shed not innocent blood in this place, And go not after other gods to your own hurt,

7 then I will live with you in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from the beginning and even forever.

Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, In the land which I gave to your fathers, For ever and ever.

8 Behold, you trust in false words, which will not benefit you,

Behold, ye trust in lying words without profit.

9 so as to steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer libations to Baal, and to go after strange gods, which you do not know.

Ye steal, and murder, and commit adultery, And swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, And go after strange gods, which ye know not,

10 And you arrived and stood before me in this house, where my name is invoked, and you said: ‘We have been freed because we carried out all these abominations.’

And then come and stand before me in this house, Which is called by my name, And say, “We are delivered!” Whilst ye practise all these abominations.

11 So then, has this house, where my name has been invoked, become a den of robbers in your eyes? It is I, I am, I have seen, says the Lord.

Is this house, which is called by my name, Become a den for robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, saith Jehovah.

12 Go to my place in Shiloh, where my name has lived from the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

But go now to my place, which was in Shiloh, Where I caused my name to dwell at the first, And see what I have done to it On account of the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and because I have spoken to you from your morning rising, and because I was speaking, but you were not listening, and because I have called you, but you have not responded:

And now because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, But ye hearkened not, And I have called to you, But ye answered not,

14 I will do to this house, in which my name is invoked, and in which you have confidence, even to this place which I gave to you and to your fathers, just as I have done to Shiloh.

Therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, In which ye place your confidence, And to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, As I have done to Shiloh.

15 And I will cast you away from my face, just as I have cast away all your brothers, the entire offspring of Ephraim.

I will cast you out from my presence, As I have cast out all your brethren, The whole race of Ephraim.

16 Therefore, you should not pray for this people, nor take up praise and supplication on their behalf. And you should not stand in opposition to me. For then I will not heed you.

And as for thee, pray not for this people, Nor lift up a cry or a prayer for them, Nor make intercession to me for them; For I will not hear thee.

17 Have you not seen what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Seest thou not what they do In the cities of Judah, and the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The sons gather the wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the wives spread the grease, so as to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to offer libations to strange gods, and so as to provoke me to anger.

The sons gather the wood, And the fathers kindle the fire, And the women knead dough, To make cakes for the queen of heaven, And to pour out libations to strange gods, That they may vex me.

19 But are they provoking me to anger, says the Lord? Are they not provoking themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”

But do they vex me, saith Jehovah? Do they not rather vex themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my fury and my indignation is kindled against this place, over men and over beasts, and over the trees of the countryside and over the fruits of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.”

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold my anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, Upon man and upon beast; Upon the trees of the field, And upon the fruit of the ground; It shall burn and not be quenched.

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your holocausts to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, And eat ye the flesh.

22 For concerning the matter of holocausts and sacrifices, I did not speak with your fathers, and I did not instruct them, in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt.

For I spake not to your fathers, nor commanded them Concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, At the time when I brought them out of the land of Egypt;

23 But on this matter I did instruct them, saying: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. And walk in the entire way that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.

But this command gave I to them: “Hearken,” said I, “to my voice, And I will be your God, And ye shall be my people. And walk ye in all the ways which I command you, That it may go well with you.”

24 But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, they walked by their own will and in the depravity of their own wicked heart. And so, they went backward, and not forward,

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, But walked in the devices and obstinacy of their evil heart, Turning their backs and not their faces toward me.

25 from the day when their fathers went forth from the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I have sent all my servants, the prophets, to you, throughout the day, rising at first light and sending them.

From the day when your fathers came forth from the land of Egypt, Even to this day, I have also sent to you all my servants, the prophets, Daily rising early and sending.

26 But they have not listened to me, nor have they inclined their ear. Instead, they have stiffened their neck, and they have behaved worse than their fathers did.

But they have not hearkened to me, Nor have they inclined their ear; But they have hardened their neck, And acted more wickedly than their fathers.

27 And so, you will speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you. And you will call to them, but they will not respond to you.

And when thou shalt speak all these things to them, They will not hearken to thee; And when thou shalt call to them, They will make thee no answer.

28 And you will say to them: This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor accepted discipline. Faith has perished and been taken away from their mouth.

Therefore shalt thou say to them, This is the nation that hearkeneth not to the voice of Jehovah their God, And taketh no correction; Truth hath failed, and is cut off from their mouth.

29 Cut off your hair, and cast it away. And take up a lamentation on high. For the Lord has cast aside and abandoned this generation of his fury.

Cut off thy locks, O Jerusalem, and cast them away! Set up a lamentation upon the high place! For Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the children Against which his wrath hath been kindled.

30 For the sons of Judah have done evil in my eyes, says the Lord. They have stationed their abominations in the house where my name is invoked, so that they may defile it.

For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith Jehovah, They have set their abominations in the house Which is called by my name, to pollute it.

31 And they have built the exalted places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the son of Hinnom, so that they may burn their sons and their daughters with fire, something I neither instructed, nor thought in my heart.

They have built the high places of Tophet, Which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, Which I commanded not, Which even came not into my mind.

32 For this reason, behold, the days will arrive, says the Lord, when it will no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but instead the Valley of Slaughter. Yet they will bury in Topheth, because there will be no other place.

Therefore behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That it shall no more be called Tophet, Or the valley of the son of Hinnom, But the Valley of Slaughter; For they shall bury in Tophet till there be no room left.

33 And the corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the wild beasts of the land, and there will be no one to drive them away.

And the dead bodies of this people shall be for meat To the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth; And none shall scare them away.

34 And from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, I will cause the cessation of the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. For the land will be in utter desolation.”

And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, And from the streets of Jerusalem, The voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; For the land shall be desolate.